Legal Measures on Control of Waste Water Disposal: Study for Recording and Reporting of the Wastewater Treatment System Performance

Abstract

This research consists purposes were 1. to study the theoretical concepts and objectives of wastewater discharge control, including the imposition of administrative and criminal penalties 2. to conduct a comparative study of legal measures applied to wastewater discharge control in Thailand and other countries and 3. to analyze the problems arising from the provisions of Section 80 of the Enhancement and Conservation of National Environmental Quality Act B.E. 2535 (1992) and 4. propose legal approaches and measures to address the problems associated with the provisions of Section 80. This study employed a qualitative research approach by examining books, academic articles, research studies, official documents and other related materials, including electronic media from both domestic and international sources. The collected data from these various documents were subsequently analyzed using content analysis. The revealed that 1) the concept of sustainable development is a fundamental principle in controlling wastewater discharge, whereby the State must adhere to the precautionary principle, the polluter-pays principle and promote public participation by ensuring that people have access to environmental information. The imposition of administrative penalties aims to punish those who violate laws or administrative orders for the benefit of providing public services, while criminal penalties are intended to punish acts that endanger public order and social peace 2) a comparison between Section 80, the Factory Act B.E. 2535 (1992) and environmental laws of the United States and the Commonwealth of Australia reveals that the Factory Act and the laws of both countries establish a permitting system for wastewater discharge. They impose duties on pollution sources to record and report the operation of wastewater treatment systems, as well as to disclose such information to the public. In most cases, the penalties are fines only. Furthermore, the Commonwealth of Australia provides a variety of alternative measures prior to prosecution 3) The main cause of the enforcement problem under Section 80, concerning the collection of data and reporting on the operation of wastewater treatment systems, arises from the lack of awareness among pollution source owners, coupled with disproportionately severe penalties relative to the nature of the offense and 4) the key recommendations for amending the Enhancement and Conservation of National Environmental Quality Act B.E. 2535 (1992) comprise (1) Introduce provisions requiring wastewater discharge into public water bodies to be subject to authorization and impose duties on pollution source owners to record and report the operation of wastewater treatment systems (2) Introduce a provision requiring the disclosure of information on the operation of wastewater treatment systems and (3)Amend the penalties under Section 80 to penal regulatory fines, while introducing alternative measures prior to prosecuting offenders.